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Zritel', vol.1, no.2, June 12, 1905

A old man bound with a rope (Zritel', vol.1, no.2, p.[1], June 12, 1905)

The cover page of Zritel', no.2, June 12, 1905 with a color illustration of an old man tied up with rope who is showing his fists. "G. Gints?" is penciled in above by the collector D.I. Kotel'nikov.; According to Botsianovskii and Gollerbakh, the illustration was originally returned to the editor with a requirement to explain its meaning. The editor presented it again, adding a note: "Capture horse thief. Caught by the community." With this note the drawing was "approved" by censorship. When this issue of Zritel' was published, the drawing turned out to lack a caption, which, in Botsianovskii's opinion, "made the impression of a certain menace. The clenched fists and fierce eyes of the man displeased very many people, most of all the censor". (Botsianovskii and Gollerbakh, 20); Trepov related this image of a horse thief with the illustration in the same issue (see p. 9) representing "a group of unpretentiously dressed people who are waiting for a reception before a closed door in the hall with full-length portraits". (Botsianovskii and Gollerbakh, 22).; The perspective of the image, seen from below, makes the subject seem monumental. Later this device would be a favorite in images of workers in official Soviet media. The man's fists as well as the angle used in the illustration have a symbolic meaning, demonstrating the potential forces which are now constrained but when released will make revolution. (Asya Vanyakina, USC)